Systems and methods for automated dock station servicing

ABSTRACT

An automatic dock servicing system can monitor status of dock stations and/or dock station components, analyze the status to determine whether it satisfies a service condition for one or more service actions and, when service conditions are satisfied, cause the corresponding service actions to be performed. In some embodiments, a control panel can track a number of trailer loading/unloading cycles at the dock station. When the number of cycles reaches a threshold for performing a service on the dock station, the control panel can automatically initiate the service action. Some service actions that can be initiated by placing a maintenance or part request, sending control signals to a control panel or to dock station components, and/or sending messages or providing remote controls to other personnel.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is directed to distribution centers and, moreparticularly, to systems and methods for monitoring, scheduling and/orperforming maintenance activities of dock stations and dock stationcomponents.

BACKGROUND

Commercial enterprises often include distribution, processing, and/ormanufacturing centers. Distribution centers are often used to receive,process, and re-ship goods, materials, and/or other items, and typicallyinclude at least one dock station configured to receive a trailer fordeliveries and shipments. Each dock station typically includes variouscomponents to permit and restrict access to and from the distributioncenter via the dock station. For example, a representative dock stationmight include a dock door, a dock leveler, a vehicle restraint, a truckpresence sensor, a barrier gate, an inflatable shelter, a dock light, acontrol panel, a dock fan, and/or other dock station components.Examples of loading dock equipment, distribution centers and systems forcontrolling operations at such facilities are described in, for example,U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,843,373; 5,047,748; 5,168,267; 5,831,540; 6,781,516;6,975,226; 7,119,673; 7,256,703; 7,274,300; and 8,497,761; in U.S.Patent Publication Nos. 2002/0089427; 2003/0167238; 2013/0332217;2014/0075842; and 2015/145605; and in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos.15/305,296; 15/145,605; and 16/109,603 each of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

Typical dock stations can service upwards of 2,000 trailers per year,performing actions such as restraining loaded 20-ton trailers,supporting movements of loaded fork-lifts, operating heavy doors, etc.These actions can cause significant wear on the dock station components.As a result, dock stations and their components typically requireservicing for periodic maintenance and part replacement. Currently,identifying when to service dock stations is typically performed by,e.g., dock station personnel who manually estimate wear on dock stationcomponents, and estimate when and/or which servicing actions theseobservations call for. Often, a distribution center manager may waituntil a dock station component fails before performing maintenance. Thisis not efficient and often results in the busiest dock stations at adistribution center being inoperative for extended periods of time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a distribution center configured in accordance withsome embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates a dock station configured in accordance with someembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 3 illustrates a control panel configured in accordance with someembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control panel and associated systemsconfigured in accordance with some embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 5 illustrates a distribution center with multiple dock stations andcorresponding control panels that can communicate over a network with acentral processing center, in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent technology.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a central processing center and associatedsystems configured in accordance with some embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for a cycle of operatinga dock station, in accordance with some embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for automaticallyperforming a service action based on a comparison between dock stationstatus data and service conditions, in accordance with some embodimentsof the present technology.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for automaticallyrequesting maintenance for a dock station based on a count of dockstation operating cycles, in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent technology.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for detecting a faultin a dock station component and responding by automatically performingmaintenance requests, part requests, controlling dock stationcomponents, and/or messaging dock station personnel, in accordance withsome embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for performingmaintenance and/or part request service actions, in accordance with someembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of an exampleprocessing device, in accordance with some embodiments of the presenttechnology.

The systems and additional implementations introduced here may be betterunderstood by referring to the following Detailed Description inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present technology are directed to dock servicingsystems that can automatically schedule and/or implement servicing ofdock stations and dock station components. For example, dock servicingsystems configured in accordance with some embodiments can track dockstation and dock station component statuses, analyze these statuses todetermine whether they satisfy service conditions for one or moreservice actions and, when conditions are satisfied, cause thecorresponding service actions to be performed.

Some embodiments of the present technology utilize internet of things(IoT) technologies. For example, various aspects of these embodimentsutilize sensors and processing elements embedded in dock stationcomponents, mesh communications, cloud computing, and other IoTtechnologies. Further aspects of embodiments of the present technologyare directed to a control panel or central processing center of the dockservicing system that can track a number of trailer loading/unloadingcycles at a dock station. When the number of cycles reaches a thresholdfor performing service on the dock station, the dock servicing systemcan automatically initiate a service action.

In various embodiments of the present technology, examples of serviceactions that the dock servicing system can initiate includecommunicating with a maintenance system to place a maintenance request,communicating with an inventory system to place a part request, sendingcontrol signals to the control panel and/or to dock station componentsto disable them or cause them to implement another designated action,and/or sending messages or providing remote controls to other personnel,such as a dock station supervisor.

In further embodiments of the present technology, the dock servicingsystem can operate as part of, or in conjunction with, a distributioncenter having one or more dock stations. Each dock station canincorporate a control panel for controlling operations of the dockstation components. In some embodiments, the control panel cancommunicate with a central processing center for the distribution centeror across multiple distribution centers. The dock servicing system canfacilitate communication within the distribution center or acrossdistribution centers, and between control panels, central processingcenters, messaging systems for distribution center personnel,maintenance entities, inventory systems, and/or other networkedentities.

In other embodiments of the present technology, data gathering andprocessing aspects of a dock servicing system can be implemented at oneor more control panels and/or at a central processing center with whichthe control panels and/or dock station components communicate. Forexample, the control panel can track statuses for dock stations and dockstation components, determine when service conditions have been met, andcause service actions to be performed. In another example, the controlpanel and/or the dock station components can send operational statisticsand/or other information to the central processing center (e.g.,component activation statistics, automatically detected failureconditions, statistics of actions taken by personnel at the dockstation, maintenance or repair history, etc.) which can identify whetherthe statistics satisfy servicing conditions. When the statistics satisfythe servicing conditions, the central processing center can initiatecorresponding service actions. While various activities are describedbelow as being performed by either the control panel or the centralprocessing center, these processes are capable of being performed byeither system, by coordinated processes at both systems, or by othersystems associated with the control panel and/or the central processingcenter.

In further embodiments of the present technology, a dock servicingsystem can track dock station and dock station component statuses bygathering statistics on use of the dock station and/or use of the dockstation component, and/or by gathering data from sensors at the dockstation. Such statistics and data can be gathered for individualcomponents, such as a vehicle restraint, dock leveler, door, etc.,and/or for overall use of the dock station, e.g., the number of load orunload cycles of the dock station. Examples of dock station statisticsinclude number of uses, time in use, and/or such values in relation toan event, e.g., number of uses of a component since the component waslast serviced.

Certain details are set forth in the following description and in FIGS.1-12 to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of thepresent technology. In other instances, well-known structures, systems,operations, materials, etc. often associated with distribution centers,logistics yards, transport vehicles (including over the road “OTR”tractors and trailers as well as dedicated terminal tractors), dockstations, dock station equipment, processing and storage systems,wireless communication systems, etc. have not been set forth in thefollowing disclosure to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description ofthe various embodiments of the technology. Those of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize, however, that the present technology can bepracticed without one or more of the details set forth herein, and/orwith other structures, methods, components, and so forth.

The terminology used below is to be interpreted in its broadestreasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with adetailed description of certain examples of embodiments of thetechnology. Indeed, certain terms may even be emphasized below; however,any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner willbe overtly and specifically defined as such in this Detailed Descriptionsection.

The accompanying Figures depict embodiments of the present technologyand are not intended to be limiting of its scope. The sizes of variousdepicted elements are not necessarily drawn to scale, and these variouselements may be arbitrarily enlarged to improve legibility. Componentdetails may be abstracted in the Figures to exclude details such asposition of components and certain precise connections between suchcomponents when such details are unnecessary for a completeunderstanding of how to make and use the invention. Many of the details,dimensions, angles and other features shown in the Figures are merelyillustrative of particular embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly,other embodiments can add other details, dimensions, angles and featureswithout departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Inaddition, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatfurther embodiments of the invention can be practiced without several ofthe details described below.

In general, identical reference numbers in the Figures identifyidentical, or at least generally similar, elements. To facilitate thediscussion of any particular element, the most significant digit ordigits of any reference number generally refers to the Figure in whichthat element is first introduced. For example, element 110 is firstintroduced and discussed with reference to FIG. 1.

Distribution Center

FIG. 1 is a partially schematic plan view of a distribution center 100configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. Byway of example, the distribution center 100 may be part of a processingcenter, a manufacturing center, or any other facility that includes dockstations and which may include an adjacent area for the transfer ofgoods, materials, etc. In some embodiments, the distribution center 100can include a boundary or enclosure 101 (e.g., a wall or fence) thatsurrounds the distribution center 100 and a corresponding logistics yard102 to provide security. The enclosure 101 can include a vehicleentrance/exit gate 103 with a guard booth 104.

A plurality of tractor/trailer combinations 110 may be present in thelogistics yard 102 at any given time. Each tractor/trailer combination110 includes a tractor 112 that is operably coupled to and separablefrom a cargo trailer 111, e.g., an over the road (“OTR”) trailer. Thesevehicles are commonly referred to as “semi-trucks” and “semi-trailers,”respectively. It should be understood, however, that the term“tractor/trailer combination” and the like, as used herein, cangenerally refer to other types of carrier vehicles, such as integralunits, which are generally known as straight trucks. Accordingly, thepresent technology is not limited to use with only tractor/trailercombinations and may be used in virtually any distribution-type facilitywith virtually any type of vehicle including tractor/trailercombinations, straight trucks, vans, and the like. In addition to thetractor/trailer combinations 110, the yard 102 can also contain aplurality of individual tractors 112 and/or individual trailers 111 atany given time. The trailers 111, for example, may be parked incorresponding parking locations 115 prior to loading and/or unloading.

The distribution center 100 includes a building 130 (e.g., a warehouse,manufacturing facility, or other facility for shipping/receiving goods,materials, etc.). In the illustrated embodiment, the building 130includes a plurality of dock stations 131 (which may also be referred toherein as “dock stations,” “dock stations,” “loading docks,” and thelike). Each dock station 131 is configured to facilitate loading andunloading of goods and materials from, for example, a trailer. Asdescribed in further detail below, the building 130 can include acentral processing center 132 to coordinate operations in the logisticsyard 102 and at the dock stations 131. The central processing center 132can also interact with and/or control a facility enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) system, an associated material handling system, and/orother operational systems associated with the distribution center 100.In the illustrated embodiment, the central processing center 132 isdepicted as being located or integrated within the building 130. Inother embodiments, however, the central processing center 132 is notlimited by location and may be located remotely from the building 130and/or in virtually any other location.

As described in greater detail below, in some embodiments the centralprocessing center 132 includes automated processing systems configuredto communicate instructions to, for example, the tractor/trailercombination 110, receive feedback from the tractor/trailer combination110, and automatically respond to the feedback. Furthermore, the centralprocessing center 132, may be utilized to gather dock station statusdata from one or more control panels, determine whether the dock stationstatus data satisfies any pre-established service conditions, and, ifso, cause one or more corresponding service actions to be performed,such as communicating alerts or notices, sending maintenance requests,sending part requests, and/or disabling part or all of a dock station.The central processing center 132 can also generate/compile reports,alerts, and notices regarding operations in the logistics yard 102, thedock stations 131, the ERP system, and any associated material handlingsystems or software packages.

In some embodiments, the distribution center 100 can include a localpositioning system to locate the positions of vehicles in the yardrelative to, for example, a ground map of the distribution center 100.In some embodiments the distribution center 100 can include a pluralityof beacons 106 (identified individually as a first beacon 106 a, asecond beacon 106 b and a third beacon 106 c) positioned in knownlocations around the logistics yard 102 (e.g., in different corners ofthe yard 102). In some embodiments, the beacons can include Wi-Fitransmitters to enable Wi-Fi positioning of the tractor 112 and/or thetrailer 111 in the logistics yard 102. For example, the beacons 106 caninclude wireless access points each having a unique identifier (e.g., amedia access control or “MAC” address). The tractor 112 can include awireless receiver and can determine its location using conventionaltriangulation techniques based on, for example, the radio signalstrength (RSS) of the wireless signals received from the respectivebeacons 106. It should be understood that in many embodiments of thepresent technology, the local positioning systems described above can beused in conjunction with a conventional GPS or other location trackingsystem for guidance of the tractor 112. In some embodiments, thedistribution center 100 can use this location data to determine part ofa dock station status. For example, a forklift associated with a dockstation can be tracked to determine how far it has traveled since itslast maintenance.

Bluetooth and WiFi are just two of the types of communication technologythat the distribution center 100, control panels 300, and other dockstation components can utilize communicate and control one another inthe yard 102. In other embodiments, other types of suitablecommunications can be used such as wireless local area network systems(WLAN), dead reckoning systems, Zigbee systems, Z-wave systems, thread,etc.

Dock Station

FIG. 2 is an exterior elevation view of the dock station 131 configuredin accordance with embodiments of the present technology. In someembodiments, the dock station 131 includes a dock leveler 201 formaterial transport between the building 130 and the trailer 111 (FIG. 1)via an opening 204, a set of dock bumpers 202 to interface between thebuilding 130 and the trailer 111 and prevent damage to the building 130,and the vehicle restraint 203 configured to releasably engage thetrailer 111 and prevent inadvertent movement of the trailer 111 awayfrom the dock station 131 during loading and unloading. The dock station131 can further include a dock door 208 (e.g., an overhead door) tocover the opening 204 when not in use, and a dock shelter or seal 205 tohelp seal the dock opening 204 around the trailer body. The dock station131 can also include a signal light or lights 206 to indicate to avehicle driver when it is safe to approach and depart the dock station,a dock light 209 to illuminate the inside of a trailer at the dockstation, as well as an instructional placard 207 with relatedinformation.

In some embodiments, when the trailer 111 arrives at the dock station131, dock station personnel can perform a load and/or unload workflowprocedure or protocol. The load/unload workflow procedure can includebacking the trailer up to the dock station 131, engaging the vehiclerestraint 203 to keep the trailer 111 in place, opening the dock door208, activating the dock leveler 201, unloading and/or loading thetrailer 111 with a forklift, storing the dock leveler 201, closing thedock door 208, disengaging the vehicle restraint 203, and pulling thetrailer 111 away from the dock station 131. Additional details regardingan example load/unload cycle for operating the dock station aredescribed below in relation to process 700 with respect to FIG. 7.

Control Panel

FIG. 3 illustrates a control panel 300 configured in accordance withembodiments of the present technology. The control panel 300 can belocated on an inside wall of the dock station 131 adjacent to the dockopening 204. The control panel 300 is operably connected to some of thecomponents 200 of the dock station 131 (e.g., the dock leveler 201, thevehicle restraint 203, an opener for the overhead door 208, theindication lights 206, etc.) and can be configured to enable personnelor automated processes to control operation of these components. Thecontrol panel 300 may include, for example, a power controller 310,vehicle restraint controllers 320/325, door controllers 330, dockleveler controllers 340, an emergency stop 350, or other user interfacesand controls. While the control panel 300 is illustrated as a unit withindividual control buttons and switches, other embodiments arecontemplated, such as embodiments in which some or all of the controlbuttons and switches are replaced by a touch screen display which canprovide variable information and control interfaces.

In addition, the control panel 300 may incorporate a two-waycommunication device 301 to enable communication between the controlpanel 300 and one or more of: devices carried by distribution centerpersonnel, a communication gateway device, the central processing center132, maintenance entities 410 (FIG. 4), inventory systems 420 (FIG. 4),and/or service applications 430 (FIG. 4) that can be accessed by aremote device such as a smart telephone or computer tablet. An exampleof such a communication device is a Delta Products model IFD8540Bluetooth Mesh Module enabling communication from the control panel PLCto a building network 502 (FIG. 5).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control panel 300 and associatedsystems configured in accordance with some embodiments of the presenttechnology. The control panel 300 can be operably connected to the dockstation components 200, the central processing center 132, themaintenance entities 410, the inventory systems 420, and/or the serviceapplications 430 via, e.g., wired or wireless connections. Examples ofwireless communications that can be utilized to enable communications bythe control panel 300 include WiFi, Cellular, mesh networks (e.g.,Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, Thread, etc.), or others. The control panel300 can include a processor 402, a program memory 404, and a storagememory 406. In concert, these components can implement one or more ofprocesses 700-1100 described below with reference to FIGS. 7-11. Invarious embodiments, the control panel 300 can include one or moreprocessing devices that can implement one or more of the processes700-1100 described below with reference to FIGS. 7-11. For example, insome embodiments, the control panel 300 can include a Programmable LogicController (PLC) that allows many different control sequences andinterconnect relationships. The PLC can accept input signals fromvarious devices such as limit switches and push buttons, and thentransmits output signals to various devices such as lights, relays andmotors in accordance with the logic defined by control programscontained in memory. Specific electrical circuits and program statementsfor such PLCs are well known in the dock station industry.

The maintenance entities 410 can include, for example, dock stationpersonnel and/or outside specialists that can perform maintenance.Communications between the control panel 300 and the maintenanceentities can include sending messages (e.g., text messages, emails,voice messages, etc.) or providing notifications for qualifiedmaintenance personnel, or scheduling maintenance with an outside serviceprovider, e.g., thorough messaging and/or through interactions with anApplication Program Interface (API) of the maintenance entity.Similarly, the inventory systems 420 can include a local inventory ofparts available to be installed at the dock station, or a retail orwholesale provider of dock station components. Communications betweenthe control panel 300 and the inventory systems 420 can includecommunicating with dock station personnel to retrieve and install apiece of dock station equipment (e.g., a vehicle restraint, dockleveler, door, etc., or components of these pieces of equipment) from anexisting inventory, or communicating with a dock station componentprovider to order the dock station components.

The service applications 430 can include applications that dock stationpersonnel can interact with for dock station service actions. Forexample, the service applications 430 can enable personnel to receiveautomated notifications and messages from the control panel 300 and/orthe central processing center 132, to send control signals to remotelyoperate the control panel 300 and/or one or more of the dock stationcomponents 200, to obtain status data for particular dock stations, tocommunicate among dock station personnel, etc. For example, one of theservice applications 430 can be a mobile or desktop application thatprovides control interfaces for control panel functions. Suchfunctionality can be driven by elements stored in one or more databases.For example, when the control panel 300 sends a notification (e.g., anindication that a maintenance request is needed or that a dock stationcomponent has failed) to a database, the database can create an elementfor the notification. When the service application 430 connects to thedatabase, if it is configured to receive the type of notificationspecified by the database element, and it has not previously retrievedthe database element, the service application can retrieve the databaseelement and use it to generate a notification for a user of the serviceapplication 430.

Distribution Center Network

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of thedistribution center 100 with multiple dock stations and correspondingcontrol panels 300 that can communicate over a network with the centralprocessing center 132. The control panels 300 can include the two-waycommunication devices 301 for communicating with a building network 502,which may either be a wired or wireless network. In some embodiments,the building network 502 can include a gateway device which, by way ofexample, may be a Systech Model SL-08-E2, part number 996673, whichallows wireless communication between the building network 502 and aremote version of the central processing center 132 via a network 501(e.g., a public network, such as the Internet). The networks 501 and/or502 can also provide communications between the various control panels300.

The central processing center 132 can include one or more servers whichreceive requests and coordinate fulfillment of those requests. Thoughthe central processing center 132 and other entities, such as themaintenance entities 410 and the inventory systems 420, are depicted inthe Figures logically as a single element, such server computing devicescan each be a distributed computing environment encompassing multiplecomputing devices located at the same or at geographically disparatephysical locations. Either or both of the networks 501 and 502 caninclude a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or otherwired or wireless networks. The network 501 may be the Internet or someother public or private network. The network 501 and/or 502 can includea wireless network, e.g., using WiFi, cellular, mesh networks (e.g.,Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, Thread), etc. The control panels 300 can beconnected to the network 502 through the two-way communication device301, such as by wired or wireless communication. In some embodiments,the control panels 300 can communicate through each other and other dockstation components to access the network 502, e.g., using connectionssuch as Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread, or other connectionconfigurations.

The central processing center 132 can utilize a database that storesinformation, such as aggregated dock station status information from theone or more control panels 300, maintenance history for the dockstations 131 and/or the dock station components 200, dock station and/ordock station component maintenance schedules, instances of scheduledmaintenance, dock station component inventories, etc. Each such databasecan include a distributed computing environment encompassing one or morecomputing devices.

Central Processing Center

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the central processing center 132 andassociated systems configured in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent technology. The central processing center 132 can connect to thecontrol panels 300, the maintenance entities 410, the inventory systems420, and/or the service applications 430, e.g., via wired or wirelessconnections as described above.

The central processing center 132 can include a processor 602, a programmemory 604, and a storage memory 606. The central processing center 132can receive dock station status data from the control panels 300, thedock station components 200, and/or other entities (e.g., maintenanceproviders, inventory systems, dock station personnel via connecteddevices and workstations, other data aggregation systems, etc.). Theprocessor 602 can execute programs from the storage memory 606. Forexample, the central processing center 132 can determine whether thedock station status data satisfies any service conditions and, if so,the central processing center 132 can automatically send signals ormessages to one or more of the control panels 300, the maintenanceentities 410, the inventory systems 420, and/or the service applications430.

The central processing center 132 can receive dock station status datafrom multiple distribution centers and can coordinate maintenancerequests and/or part requests among the different distribution centers.For example, when the central processing center 132 determines that asingle dock station at each of four geographically close distributioncenters needs maintenance, the central processing center 132 cancoordinate with one of the maintenance entities 410 to service all fourdock stations in a single trip, which can reduce costs for theindividual distribution centers and/or increase profitability for themaintenance entity.

The central processing center 132 can also aggregate dock station statusdata across distribution centers, which can be used as training data forpredictive machine learning models (described below) to determine, e.g.,expected life and/or maintenance cycles for dock station components; toanticipate maintenance, parts, or other service needs; and/or toaccurately identify dock station metrics and statistics, such astraffic.

In some embodiments, personnel can access data from the centralprocessing center 132, e.g., by using a mobile device or workstationloaded with a program (e.g., a specialized program, web interface,database access program, etc.) configured to obtain and present datafrom the central processing center 132. In various embodiments, suchaccess can be provided to personnel such as workers at the dock station,supervisors, quality, safety, or supply managers, inventory maintenanceworkers, etc. These personnel can be at a facility housing the centralprocessing center 132 or remote from that facility. In some cases, thesepersonnel can manipulate or augment the data at the central processingcenter 132, such as by manually entering additional data or adjustingdata in the central processing center 132. In some embodiments, thesepersonnel can also remotely initiate actions though the program, such asmaintenance requests, part replacement requests, disabling or enablingdock station components, etc. In some further embodiments, the personnelcan see pending actions (e.g., actions initiated by other personnel orautomatically initiated in response to service conditions) and cancancel them or otherwise adjust them, such as by modifying a time atwhich they are scheduled, modifying which entity is scheduled to performthem, grouping multiple activities together to be performed by amaintenance provider, changing what activity is to be performed (e.g.,upgrading a maintenance request to schedule maintenance for additionaldock station components), etc.

Dock Station Operating Cycle

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 700 for a dock stationload/unload cycle, in accordance with some embodiments of the presenttechnology. As shown in FIG. 2, the dock station 131 typically includesthe dock door 208 elevated at a distance above the ground and anexterior area for a trailer 111 to be backed up to the dock door 208. Toprovide safe and efficient loading and unloading, the trailer 111typically needs to be centrally aligned with respect to the dock door208.

Once proper alignment of the trailer 111 at the dock station 131 hasbeen achieved and confirmed at block 702, the vehicle restraint 203(e.g., a mechanical hook, wheel chock, etc.) is engaged with the trailer111 to prevent the trailer 111 from moving away from the dock bumpers202 during loading and/or unloading. In some cases, an individual istasked with manually pressing a control button on the control panel 300that causes the vehicle restraint 203 to engage the trailer 111 afterthe driver or a warehouse worker has communicated to the individual thatthe trailer is correctly aligned.

After the vehicle restraint 203 is properly engaged, a visual signal(e.g., an illuminated green light) can be provided inside the dockstation 131 to notify dock station personnel that it is safe toload/unload the trailer.

Outside the dock station 131, another visual signal (e.g., anilluminated red light 206) can be provided to warn the vehicle driveragainst moving the trailer 111. Steps are then taken to ensure theinterior area in front of the dock door 208 is ready for loading andunloading. For example, the interior area in front of the dock door 208is typically checked to ensure that the area is clear of debris ormaterials that would obstruct a fork lift loading/unloading thevehicles. Individuals inside the warehouse typically attend to checkingthe interior area of the dock station, clearing any debris, andcommunicating that the interior area is ready for loading and/orunloading. Once the “all clear” message is conveyed by the person taskedwith checking the interior area, an individual can then open the dockdoor 208 at block 704.

Next, at block 706, the dock leveler 201 is extended between the floorof the building and the open end of the trailer. Conventional docklevelers include a deck that rotates into position as a lip on the frontedge of the deck extends outward and comes to rest on the bed of thetrailer. Once the dock leveler 201 is in place, the dock personnel areauthorized to begin the loading and/or unloading of the trailer, e.g.,using the fork lift or other transportation system.

Once the unloading and/or loading process is complete, the process isreversed: the dock leveler is stored at block 708, the door is closed atblock 710, the vehicle restraint is released at block 712 and a visualsignal (e.g., an illuminated green light 206) is provided to indicatedriver can leave with the trailer.

Processes for Automating Service Actions

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 800 for automaticallyperforming a service action based on dock station status data satisfyingone or more service conditions, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present technology. In various embodiments, the process 800 can beperformed by one or both of a control panel 300 and/or the centralprocessing center 132.

In block 802, the process 800 can obtain dock station status data. Thedock station status data can include any data indicative of the state ofthe dock station and/or the individual components of the dock station.For example, the dock station status data can include one or more of:amount of use data, level of wear data, functional state data, and/oradjustment factors. The amount of use data can include statistics suchas one or more of: counts of dock station component load/unload cycles(e.g., vehicle restraint cycles, door open/close cycles, dock levelercycles, etc.), amount of time the dock station components have been inuse, dock station component deploy and store times, location trackingdata (e.g., data tracking tractor positions to determine distancestraveled), etc. The level of wear data can include, for example, one ormore of: images of dock station components that can indicate wear,sensor readings for dock station components (e.g., temperature, contact,movement, pressure, contact, current draw, vibration, etc.) that canindicate a state of the component with the sensor, dock station operatorreports (e.g., observations made during periodic dock station componentchecks), maintenance history, etc. The functional state data can includeindications of a component fault, whether a component has been disabled,whether the component was disabled manually or automatically, remedialactions taken, etc. For example, if the control panel 300 sends a signalto a dock leveler but the dock leveler is unresponsive, the dock levelercan be identified as potentially having a fault.

The dock station components 200 can operate differently in variouscircumstances, such as different weather conditions, serving differenttypes and/or configurations of trailers, being at different elevations,being operated by different personnel, and/or having different dockstation configurations (e.g., which components are included or how theyare arranged), etc. The adjustment factors can include indications ofsuch circumstances for a particular dock station and/or dock stationcomponent. For example, the adjustment factors can specify whether or towhat degree the dock station has experienced such circumstances or hasoperated in specific dock station operating conditions. Morespecifically, examples of the adjustment factors can include docklocation data (e.g., for humidity, amount of dust/sand, etc.), weatherdata (e.g., specific data for an area and time period or typical weatherpatterns for the area), distribution center statistics (e.g., averageloaded trailer weight, trailer configurations, previous maintenanceneeded ahead of schedule, etc.), indications of the dock stationconfiguration (e.g., which components are employed or how they werearranged), profiles of the personnel that operate the dock station, etc.

The process 800 can obtain the dock station status data from one or moreof: the control panel 300, one or more of the dock station components200, a database that has accumulated dock station status data, or anexternal data source. For example, as the central processing centers formultiple distribution centers gather status data, the status data can betransferred to a database system. This database system accumulating thedata from the multiple distribution centers provides opportunities foroptimizing servicing actions across the distribution centers and miningthe data for inferences such as identifying situations that causeaccidents, identifying more accurate maintenance schedules for dockstation components, or using the accumulated data to train models(discussed below). The control panel 300 can record and provide statusdata by logging component actuations that the control panel 300 controls(e.g., when it sends control signals to the dock leveler 201 or thevehicle restraint 203). In some embodiments, the dock station components200 can be equipped with various types of sensors (e.g., contactsensors, pressure sensors, etc.) and can provide this status data viathe control panel 300 or directly to, e.g., the central processingcenter 132. Examples of such dock station status data can includemaintenance records, component installation or replacement dates,distribution center statistics, etc. Additional dock station status datacan be obtained from an external data source, such as a weather service,dock station component manufacturer, inventory system, trailer manifestsystem, dock station vehicle navigation system, etc.

In block 804, the process 800 can compare dock station status dataobtained at bock 802 with one or more service conditions. The serviceconditions can include, for example, mappings of a “key” to one or moreservice actions. A service condition key can be any conditionaloperation that, when evaluated, provides a satisfied or not-satisfiedresult. In various embodiments, the service conditions can havedifferent types of keys. For example, a service condition key can be oneor more rule expressions that can be evaluated to true (satisfied) orfalse (not-satisfied) when applied against dock station status data. Asanother example, a service condition key can include a trained model,based on machine learning, that can receive dock station status data andproduce a value (e.g., on a spectrum from 0-1) that can be translated tosatisfied or not-satisfied (e.g., less than or equal to 0.5 is notsatisfied and greater than 0.5 is satisfied).

A rule expression can specify one or more rules that can be evaluatedwith the dock station status data by, e.g., defining one or more valuesor value ranges for a condition type. The rule expression for a servicecondition can be defined as an expression of multiple rules connectedwith operators, such as equivalents of: “AND” “OR” “<” “>” “NOT” “+” “−”“/” “*”, etc. The service condition key, when expressed as a ruleexpression, is satisfied when the rule expression evaluates to true.

The rules can be defined for combinations of the different types of dockstation status data (e.g., the amount of use, the level of wear, thefunctional state, and/or the adjustment factors). For example, one ormore rules in a service condition key can be based on an establishedstandard usage life and/or maintenance cycle for a dock station and/ordock station component. As a more specific example, the dock leveler 201may have a maintenance cycle of 2 years and a usage life of 10 years,assuming one shift operation with eight trailers per day. This cantranslate to 8 trailers per day times 5 days per week times 50 weeks peryear, which yields 2,000 load and/or unload cycles per year. The dockleveler's maintenance cycle is thus 4,000 load and/or unload cycles anda standard usage life of 20,000 load and/or unload cycles. In someembodiments, the dock station component usage life and/or themaintenance cycle may be defined as a number of operating hours. Forexample, the dock light might have an illuminating element life of10,000 hours. In yet other instances, dock station component life may bedetermined by time since installation, such as 5 years, regardless ofnumber of uses or time in use. Counts of use for the dock station and/orfor the individual dock station components can be tracked by the controlpanel 300 and/or by the central processing center 132 and applied torules when executing the process 800.

An example single-rule key based on amount-of-use data could be the ruleexpression: “number_of_dockStation_loadUnload_cycles>maintenanceMaximum”where the “number_of_dockStation_loadUnload_cycles” is obtained from acount in the dock station status data by a log kept by the control panel300 and the “maintenanceMaximum” is specified in the dock station statusdata as a maximum number of load/unload cycles before each dock stationshould be scheduled for maintenance. An embodiment using this type ofexpression is described in greater detail below in reference to process900 of FIG. 9.

Rules that employ amount-of-use data may rely on typical or expecteddock station component characteristics, such as a typical number of usesbefore maintenance is needed. Other rules, such as rules based on levelsof wear or functional states of dock station components, however, canallow for actions to be taken in response to unexpected behavior inparticular dock station components. For example, sensors such ascameras, pressure sensors, contact sensors, temperature sensors, currentsensors, etc., can provide readings and/or status indicators forparticular dock station components. Images captured by a camera can beautomatically analyzed to identify dock station components and/orconditions of dock station components. Pressure sensors can identifywhen a dock station component is correctly being placed or returned to astandby position, such as pressure on a vehicle restraint 203 measuredto identify correct attachment to the vehicle or pressure applied by thedock door 208 to identify when the door is closed. Temperature sensorscan measure when a component is creating excess friction, e.g., if adock leveler 201 is rubbing against its housing when is it deployed.Current sensors can measure the current draw for various dock stationcomponent motors, to identify whether the motor is working harder thanexpected, which can indicate a fault.

Service condition keys can be established with rules that specify whenthese readings and/or status indicators indicate a problem, which can bemapped to corrective service actions. For example, a key can include arule that is satisfied when a temperature inside a refrigerated dockstation opening goes above a threshold temperature.

An example of a multiple-rule expression in a service condition key thatapplies to amount-of-use data and level-of-wear data is:

“((number_of_dockStation_loadUnload_cycles>maintenanceMaximum*0.75) ANDother_dockStation_maintenance_scheduled>0) OR(number_of_dockStation_loadUnload_cycles>maintenanceMaximum*0.95) OR(fan_current_draw>standard_fan_current_draw*1.5),”

In this example, the key is satisfied when the dock station status dataindicates (1) the dock station has reached 75% of the maximum number ofload/unload cycles before maintenance and there is at least one otherdock station that has a scheduled maintenance request, (2) the dockstation has reached 95% of the maximum number of load/unload cycles, or(3) the fan for the dock station is drawing one-and-a-half times astandard amount of current. This key can be mapped to an action toschedule maintenance for the dock station. This results in (1) economyof scale for dock station maintenance because maintenance is scheduledearly (at the 75% mark) when a maintenance entity is already scheduledto perform maintenance on another dock station, (2) increased dockstation safety by scheduling maintenance whenever a dock station needsimmediate servicing (at the 95% mark), and (3) proactive maintenancewhen a problem is indicated by the dock station fan working 1.5 timesharder than expected.

In some embodiments, the level of wear and/or the functional state datacan be pre-processed to determine conditions prior to applying the rulesthat use a condition. For example, images taken of a dock stationcomponent can be analyzed to identify objects and/or object conditions,such as an amount of remaining material, tears or ruptures, contortionsof material, etc. As more specific examples, an image of a vehiclerestraint can be analyzed to identify fraying in a cable, an image of adock leveler can be analyzed to identify whether it fully extends whenit is activated, images of internal components such as gears or beltscan be analyzed to determine whether they show signs of excessive wear,etc. In some embodiments, object recognition and machine learning models(described below) can be used to make these determinations. For example,a model can be trained to recognize particular objects based on imagetraining data that include marked versions of the objects or conditionsof the objects. The results of this pre-processing can be used by rulesin service condition keys. For example, pre-processing can take an imageof a cable used by a vehicle restraint, can identify a location on thecable that is the thinnest, and can take a measurement of that thinnestspot. The pre-processing can also identify whether any fraying of thecable strands exist. A rule expression based on these determinations,such as “cable_min_diameter<1_inch OR has_fraying,” can then beevaluated. A key using this rule expression can be mapped to a serviceaction, such as disabling the dock station and scheduling immediatemaintenance of the vehicle restraint. Additional pre-processing caninclude grouping status data elements (e.g., grouping data fromdifferent equipment, such as by loading dock, by equipment type, by dockpersonnel, etc.), applying filters, determining abnormalities, addingmeta-data (e.g., time stamps, dock station identifiers, equipmentidentifiers), etc.

The adjustment factors can also be used in various rules to adjust howthe rule is evaluated based on context. For example, an adjustmentfactor can change a standard usage life and/or maintenance cycle basedon, e.g., weather conditions or trailer weights. More specifically, aservice condition key for a vehicle restraint can specify that astandard life is 15,000 uses on trailers that, when loaded, weigh up to18 tons, but each use on a loaded trailer above 18 tons counts as 1.5uses. An example rule expression for this key is“(uses_under_18_tons+(uses_over_18_tons*1.5))>15,000” which could bemapped to the service action to replace the vehicle restraint.

In some instances, the dock station component life may be determinedbased on the life of other components present at the dock station. Forexample, the vehicle restraint may have the shortest maintenance cycleand/or life, and when the vehicle restraint is serviced or replaced, theother dock station components may also be scheduled for maintenance orreplacement.

In some embodiments, a service condition key can include a trained modelthat receives identified conditions or other values from the dockstation status data and produces an indication of whether the key issatisfied. A “rained model” or “model,” as used herein, refers to aconstruct that is trained using training data to make predictions orprovide probabilities for new data items, whether or not the new dataitems were included in the training data. In some embodiments, trainingdata can include training items, each of which including parameters(e.g., dock station status data) and an assigned classification. Whenthe trained model receives a new data item with similar types ofparameters, the model can assign a classification to the new data item.

For example, training items can be based on maintenance logs for dockstations across multiple distribution centers. Each instance of servicefor a dock station in each maintenance log can have a correspondingtimestamp. A record of the dock station status data for the serviceddock station can be obtained at the time of, and/or leading up to, theservice instance. The dock station status data can include various typesof elements, e.g., a number of load/unload cycles the dock station hasperformed since its last server, an average weight of trailers serviced,a total amount to time the dock station lights have been illuminated,etc. Because each set of these conditions existed leading up to aservice, they can be assigned a “satisfied” or “1” classification,corresponding to a service action. Additional training items assigned a“not-satisfied” or “0” classification can be generated by assigningthese classification to additional dock station status data thatexisted, at the dock station, at times at least a threshold amount priorto the dock station needing servicing. A model can then be trained withthese training items, as discussed below, to predict when the dockstation service conditions indicate a maintenance service is needed.

In some embodiments, a model can provide a probability distributionresulting from the analysis of training data, such as a distribution ofwhen different dock stations have needed maintenance or a likelihood ofa dock station component failing, based on an analysis of a large numberof previously identified correspondences between dock station statusdata and human initiated maintenance requests, part replacementrequests, emergency shutdown actions, etc. Examples of suitable modelsinclude: neural networks, support vector machines, decision trees,decision tree forests, Parzen windows, Bayes, clustering, reinforcementlearning, probability distributions, and others. Models can beconfigured for various situations, data types, sources, and outputformats.

In some embodiments, a trained model can include a neural network withmultiple input nodes that receive dock station status data or identifiedconditions extracted from the dock station status data, e.g., asindividual values, as a sparse vector, as a histogram version of animage, etc. The input nodes can correspond to functions that eachreceive the input and produce results. These results can be provided toone or more levels of intermediate nodes that each produce furtherresults based on a combination of lower-level node results. A weightingfactor can be applied to the output of each node before the result ispassed to the next layer node. At a final layer (“the output layer”),one or more nodes can produce a value classifying the input that, oncethe model is trained, can be used as a determination of whether the keyhas been satisfied. For example, the output can be a value between 0-1,with the closeness to either end of this spectrum indicating aconfidence factor for the determination. An output closer to a 1 can betranslated to a “satisfied” result for a service condition key and anoutput closer to a 0 can be translated to a “not-satisfied” result forthe service condition key.

Continuing the previous example in which training items are based onmaintenance logs, the model can be used as a key in a service conditionwhere the service action is to schedule maintenance for the dock station(i.e., the action which defined whether the training items were assigneda “satisfied” or “not-satisfied” classification.) On a periodic basis(e.g., hourly, daily, weekly, etc.) the status data, from each of a setof monitored dock stations can be formatted in a manner similar to thetraining items (e.g., extracting the same types of data as was used inthe training items) and then is applied against the model (e.g.,representations of this data can be supplied to input nodes of themodel.) Each node produces a result, which and propagates up to theoutput node(s) to produce a model result. Where the model result iscloser to a 1 (or a threshold amount above 0.5) the key is satisfied andthe maintenance is scheduled for that dock station.

A neural network can be trained with supervised learning in which thetraining data includes dock station status data as input, andcorresponding human actions taken (e.g., maintenance requests made,parts ordered, emergency shut-down engaged, a component logged as havinga certain amount of wear, etc.) as the comparison factor. Duringtraining, as these training items are applied to the model, output fromthe model can be compared to the comparison factor (i.e., the key is“satisfied” when the output is closer to the 1 end of the spectrum whenthe action to which the neural network key is mapped is the same thehuman action in the training item). Based on the comparison, the neuralnetwork can be modified, such as by changing weights between nodes ofthe neural network or parameters of the functions used at each node inthe neural network such that model output provides a better output forthe key's “satisfied” or “not-satisfied” result. While the abovedescribes one configuration of a neural network, other configurationscan be used in addition to or in lieu of the specific configurationdescribed above.

Further to the previous example, the training items generated based onthe maintenance logs can each be applied to a previously untrainedmodel, e.g., by entering values from the status data in a vector andsupplying at least a part of the vector to each input node of the model.When the training item is classified as a “satisfied” training item,model parameters are adjusted to make the model output closer to a 1.When the training item is classified as a “not-satisfied” training item,model parameters are adjusted to make the model output closer to a 0.After supplying a sufficient amount of the training times, the modelwill be trained to make predictions about dock station maintenanceservice needs.

In decision block 806, if any of the service conditions are satisfied,the process 800 continues to block 808. If none of the serviceconditions are satisfied, the process 800 can end. At block 808, theprocess 800 can cause the service actions that correspond to the serviceconditions with satisfied keys to be performed. For example, the serviceconditions can be mapped to a variety of service actions, such assending maintenance and/or part requests, providing control signals tothe control panel 300 and/or to one or more of the dock stationcomponents 200, and/or sending messages to other personnel, such as adock station manager, e.g., to check a component status or to manuallyschedule a service action.

The control panel 300 and/or the central processing center 132 can sendthe maintenance requests directly to one or more of the maintenanceentities, and the requests can indicate the dock station and/or the dockstation component that receives the maintenance and the type ofmaintenance. This request can occur in various ways such as: by fillingin fields of an email or other message template and sending thecompleted message to the maintenance entity, by interacting with an APIof the maintenance entity that allows automatic maintenance scheduling,or by signaling to dock station personnel to coordinate maintenance forthe particular dock station or piece of equipment. In response to themaintenance request, the maintenance entity can schedule maintenance forthe indicated dock station and/or dock station components.

The control panel 300 or the central processing center 132 can send partrequests directly to one or more of the inventory systems which indicatethe dock station to receive the replacement parts. Similarly tomaintenance requests, part requests can occur in various ways such asby: filling in fields of a message template and sending the completedmessage, interacting with an Application Program Interface (API) of aninventory system, or signaling to dock station personnel to acquire andreplace a component for the particular dock station.

In some embodiments, the part request can first query an inventorysystem for the distribution center or for a set of distribution centersto determine if the replacement part is already in-stock. If so, theprocess 800 can signal (e.g., via SMS, email or other electronicmessaging system, by mobile app notification, etc.) to dock stationpersonnel to retrieve and install the replacement part. If the part isnot in the dedicated inventory system, the process 800 can send a partrequest to one or more other inventory systems. In some embodiments, theprocess 800 can determine a preferred retail inventory system (e.g.,based on lowest price, a contractual agreement, bulk order benefits,etc.) and place the order with the preferred retail inventory system. Inresponse to the part request, the inventory system that receives thepart request can schedule a shipment of a part and/or a technician to goto the distribution center 100 and replace the part. Additional detailson some embodiments for sending maintenance and/or part requests aredescribed below with reference to process 1100 of FIG. 11.

In some embodiments, instead of automatically scheduling the maintenanceand/or requesting the part for each dock station, the process 800 canaggregate the part and/or the maintenance requests from multiple dockstations in a distribution center or across multiple distributioncenters. When a threshold number of part and/or maintenance requests arepending, or a threshold amount of time has elapsed for one or more ofthe part and/or maintenance requests, the process 800 can proceed toschedule the aggregated part and/or maintenance requests. In some cases,the part and/or maintenance requests can be identified as critical ornon-critical based on, e.g., whether the dock station can operatewithout the maintenance or part replacement, or whether the distributioncenter has other dock station capacity to continue operation with theindicated dock station being non-functional. When the part ormaintenance request is critical, the process 800 can immediatelyschedule it and any other pending part and/or maintenance requests.

In some embodiments, in addition to or instead of placing the partand/or maintenance request, a satisfied key in a service condition canbe mapped to actions to automatically control a dock station and/or dockstation component. Examples of such automatic actions include: disablinga dock station control panel, disabling particular dock stationcomponents, actuating lights or alarms, activating a warning at thecontrol panel 300, controlling the motion of a dock station component,initiating a dock station load/unload cycle (e.g., the process 700),enabling operation of the dock station and/or dock station component,etc. Control signals from the central processing center 132 can be sentto the control panel 300 or directly to the dock station components 200.

In some embodiments, in addition to or instead of placing a part and/ormaintenance request and/or sending control signals to the control panel300 and/or dock station components 200, the satisfied service conditionkey can be mapped to service actions to send one or more communications(e.g., electronic messages, notifications, alerts, etc.). Serviceactions can specify particular communication recipients. For example, aservice condition with an action to replace a part can also include aservice action to communicate with an inventory manager to notify theinventory manager of a placed part request. As another example, aservice condition with an action to disable a dock station can alsoinclude a service action to communicate with a dock station supervisorto request that the dock station supervisor check the dock station. Thecommunication can provide controls (e.g., links, buttons, responsekeywords, etc.) that allow the dock station supervisor to remotelydisable or enable the dock station and/or dock station components.

In some embodiments, communications can be sent to a default recipient,such as a dock station manager or a notice system that will pushcommunications out to users that connect to the system. For example, theservice condition can specify actions to schedule a maintenance requestand provide a notification of the maintenance request. The notificationcan be added to a notification database. Various dock station personnelcan have mobile devices with an installed app that connects to thedatabase and is configured to retrieve specific types of notifications.When the specific type of notification includes a maintenance request,the app can retrieve the notification of the maintenance request andprovide it to the personnel via the mobile device.

Additional details on some embodiments that use service conditionmappings for each of maintenance requests, part requests, controllingdock station components, and dock station personnel messaging aredescribed in more detail below in reference to process 1000 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 900 for automaticallyrequesting maintenance for a dock station based on an automaticallytracked count of operating cycles for the dock station being above athreshold, in accordance with some embodiments of the presenttechnology. In various embodiments, the process 900 can be performed byone or both of a control panel 300 and/or the central processing center132. In some embodiments, the process 900 is a more specific example ofthe process 800 in which blocks 902-906 correspond to block 802, block908 corresponds to blocks 804 and 806, and block 910 corresponds toblock 808. As this example demonstrates, a service condition may be aconditional statement (e.g., an “if” statement) that corresponds to anaction (e.g., “send maintenance signal”).

In block 902, the process 900 determines that the dock station cycle hasbeen completed. For example, when the process 700 completes, asdetermined by the control panel 300, the control panel 300 can performthe process 900 or can signal to the central processing center 132 toperform the process 900.

At block 904, the process 900 can obtain dock station status data thatincludes a component counter N and a maintenance threshold J. Thecomponent counter N can be a count (e.g., number of times, amount oftime, etc.) a particular dock station component has been used and themaintenance threshold J can be a pre-established amount of use (numberof uses, amount of time in use, etc.) before the dock station componentshould receive maintenance. In block 906, the process 900 can incrementthe component counter N. When the maintenance threshold is based on theamount of time in use, N can be incremented by the amount of time thatthe dock station component was in use. When the maintenance threshold isbased on the number of uses, N can be incremented by the number of times(e.g., 1) that the dock station component was used during the dockstation cycle.

In decision block 908, the process 900 can compare the counter N withthe threshold J to determine whether the dock station component trackedby the counter N should be scheduled for a maintenance service. If thecounter N is greater than the threshold J, the process 900 continues toblock 910 and the maintenance request is sent. If the counter N is notgreater than the threshold J, the process 900 can end.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 1000 for detecting afault in a dock station component and responding by automaticallyinitiating maintenance requests or part requests, controlling dockstation components, and/or messaging dock station personnel. In variousembodiments, the process 1000 can be performed by one or both of acontrol panel 300 and/or the central processing center 132. In someembodiments, the process 1000 is a more specific example of the process800 in which blocks 1002 and 1004 correspond to block 802, blocks 1006and 1010 correspond to blocks 804 and 806, and blocks 1008 and 1012-2020correspond to block 808.

The process 1000 begins in block 1002 when a component fault is detectedby, e.g., the control panel 300 or central processing center 132. Asdescribed above, a component fault can be indicated by levels of wearand/or functional state indicators in the dock station status data.These indications can be based on images, sensor measurements, dockstation personnel reports, etc. For example, a component fault can beidentified when an image shows a remaining amount of material for acomponent to be below a threshold, when a heat sensor reads atemperature a threshold amount above a safety threshold, when a contactsensor that should be tripped when a component is stored has not beentripped, etc. In block 1004, the fault can be reported to an alarm logat the control panel 300 and/or the central processing center 132.

In decision block 1006, the control panel 300 or the central processingcenter 132 can respond to the fault report by determining whether thecomponent is operable. This can be accomplished automatically e.g., bydetermining whether sensor readings are within acceptable levels, bygenerating a digital model of the component based on images and/or othersensor readings and then determining whether the digital model indicatesthe component is in a useable state, or by applying a machine learningmodel that is trained to identify component operability to images orother dock station status data. If the component is not operable, theprocess 1000 continues to block 1008. If the component is operable, theprocess 1000 continues to block 1018.

In block 1008, the process 1000 can disable the inoperable dock stationcomponent. In various embodiments, this can include causing the controlpanel 300 to not send control signals to the dock station component,signaling the dock station component to power down, and/or setting adock station component status as “disabled” in a tracking system. Thiscan be done by the causing the control panel 300 itself or by thecentral processing center 132.

In decision block 1010, the process 1000 can determine whether disablingthe dock station component causes the dock station to be inoperable. Forexample, certain dock station components, such as the dock leveler 201,can be identified as necessary for the dock station to operate, whileothers, such as the vehicle restraint 203 can have back-up systems, suchas wheel chocks, that allow the dock station to continue operating. Asprocess 1000 demonstrates, service conditions can be nested. Forexample, the service condition with the key corresponding to block 1010is only checked if the service condition with the key corresponding toblock 1006 is satisfied. If disabling the dock station component causesthe dock station to be inoperable, the process 1000 can continue toblock 1012.

In block 1012, the process 1000 can disable the dock station, e.g., bysignaling the control panel 300 and/or individual dock stationcomponents to not accept further commands until the dock station hasbeen re-enabled. At block 1014, the process 1000 can also sendcommunications to specified dock station personnel or to a notificationsystem to indicate that the dock station has been disabled. At block1016, the process 1000 can send the maintenance and/or part requests asnecessary to fix the dock station component(s) and thus allow the dockstation to be reenabled. The process 1000 can then end.

If, from decision block 1006 or decision block 1010, the process 1000continued to block 1018, in block 1018 the process 1000 can sendcommunications to indicate the issue with the dock station componentwhile the dock station continues to operate. For example, this caninclude setting a warning signal at the control panel 300, sending amessage to a dock station supervisor or other dock station personnel,and/or setting a notification in a log to be provided to connectedapplications (e.g., mobile or desktop) with appropriate permissions. Atblock 1020, the process 1000 can schedule a maintenance and/or partrequest to address the detected fault. After block 1020, the process1000 ends.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 1100 for performingmaintenance and/or part request service actions, in accordance with someembodiments of the present technology. For example, the process 1100 canbe initiated at various points such as block 808 (FIG. 8) when asatisfied key is mapped to a maintenance and/or part request, at block910 (FIG. 9), at block 1016, or at block 1020 (FIG. 10). In variousembodiments, the process 1100 can be performed by one or both of acontrol panel 300 and/or the central processing center 132. In someembodiments, the process 1100 can be initiated to only perform amaintenance request, in which case the process 1100 can begin at block1114. In some embodiments the process 1100 can be initiated to onlyperform a part request, in which case the process 1100 can only includeblocks 1104 1110.

In decision block 1102, the process 1100 determines whether a partrequest is needed. This can be based on a determined amount of wear on adock station component, an indication of a fault in a dock stationcomponent, and/or an amount of use determination for a dock stationcomponent reaching an end-of-life threshold. If a part request isneeded, the process 1100 proceeds to block 1104. If the part request isnot needed, the process 1100 proceeds to block 1114.

At block 1104, the process 1104 can initiate the part request. At block1106, the process 1100 can determine whether the part is available instock. If so, the process 1100 can continue to block 1110 where theneeded part is drawn from the stock, inventory records are updated, andthe part is installed at the dock station. If the part is not in stock,the process 1100 can proceed to block 1108, where an order for the partis placed with an external inventory system. The process 1100 can thencontinue to block 1112.

In decision block 1112, the process 1110 can determine whether amaintenance request is also necessary. If so, the process 1110 proceedsto block 1114. If not, the process 1110 ends.

In block 1114, the process 1110 initiates the maintenance request. Atblock 1116, the process 1110 determines whether the status of the dockstation and/or dock station component can be serviced by an internalmaintenance entity or whether an external maintenance entity is neededto perform the maintenance. For example, component maintenance can havedifferent levels, such as just an inspection, a simple maintenance(e.g., adding lubricant to a component or replacing hydraulic fluid), amore complicated maintenance (e.g., dismantling a motor and aligninggears), or removal and replacement of parts. Some maintenance tasks canbe specified as requiring an outside specialist while others can beperformed by internal dock station personnel. As another example, somespecific dock station components (e.g., dock door 208) can be servicedby internal dock station personnel while other dock station components(e.g. tractor 112) can only be serviced by outside specialists. If themaintenance can be performed internally, the process 1100 proceeds toblock 1120 where a communication is provided to internal dock stationpersonnel to perform the maintenance. If the maintenance cannot beperformed internally, the process 1100 continues to block 1118, wherethe process 1100 sends the communication to an external maintenanceentity for scheduling the maintenance.

In some embodiments, the portion of the process 1100 between blocks 1114and 1120 can be repeated until a determination is made in decision block1122 that the issue with the dock station component has been resolved,at which point the process 1100 ends.

Dock Servicing System Processing Capabilities

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of an exampleprocessing device 1200, in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent technology. Various devices described above, such as the controlpanel 300, central processing center 132, and others can includeprocessing capabilities that can be implemented by including a versionof device 1200. While the device 1200 is described below as havingcomponents 1210-1270, some versions of the device 1200 can have more,fewer, or alternate components.

The device 1200 can include one or more input devices 1220 that provideinput to the processor(s) 1210 (e.g., CPU(s), GPU(s), HPU(s), etc.),notifying it of actions. The actions can be mediated by a hardwarecontroller that interprets the signals received from the input deviceand communicates the information to the processors 1210 using acommunication protocol. The input devices 1220 can include, for example,a mouse, a keyboard, a touchscreen (e.g., a control panel touch screen),switches or buttons (e.g., controllers 31-350), an infrared sensor, atouchpad, a camera- or image-based input device, a microphone, varioussensors, and/or other user input devices.

The processors 1210 can be a single processing unit or multipleprocessing units in a device or distributed across multiple devices. Theprocessors 1210 can be coupled to other hardware devices, for example,with the use of a bus, such as a PCI bus or SCSI bus. The processors1210 can communicate with a hardware controller for devices, such as fora display 1230. The display 1230 can be used to display text andgraphics. In some embodiments, the display 1230 provides graphical andtextual visual feedback to a user. In some embodiments, the display 1230includes the input device as part of the display, such as when the inputdevice is a touchscreen. In some embodiments, the display 1230 isseparate from the input device, e.g., a screen connected to a controlpanel 300. Examples of display devices are: an LCD display screen, anLED display screen, a projected, holographic, or augmented realitydisplay, and so on. Other I/O devices 1240 can also be coupled to theprocessor, such as a network card, video card, audio card, USB, firewireor other external device, camera, printer, speakers, disk drives, etc.

In some embodiments, the device 1200 also includes a communicationdevice capable of communicating wirelessly or wire-based with a networknode. The communication device can communicate with another device or aserver through a network using, for example, TCP/IP, Zigbee, Z-Wave,Bluetooth, WiFi, or other communication types. The device 1200 canutilize the communication device to distribute operations acrossmultiple network devices.

The processors 1210 can have access to a memory 1250 in a device ordistributed across multiple devices. A “memory” includes one or more ofvarious hardware devices for volatile and non-volatile storage, and caninclude both read-only and writable memory. For example, a memory cancomprise random access memory (RAM), various caches, CPU registers,read-only memory (ROM), and writable non-volatile memory, such as flashmemory, hard drives, floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, magnetic storage devices,tape drives, device buffers, and so forth. A memory is not a propagatingsignal divorced from underlying hardware; a memory is thusnon-transitory. The memory 1250 can include program memory 1260 thatstores programs and software, such as an operating system 1262, dockstation control programs 1264 (e.g., for implementing one or more ofprocesses 700-1100), and other application programs 1266. The memory1250 can also include data memory 1270, storing data which can beprovided to the program memory 1260 or any element of the device 1200.

Some embodiments can be operational with numerous other computing systemenvironments or configurations. Examples of computing systems,environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use withthe technology include, but are not limited to, personal computers,server computers, handheld or laptop devices, cellular telephones,wearable electronics, tablet devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, networkPCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computingenvironments that include any of the above systems or devices, or thelike.

Reference in this specification to “embodiments” (e.g., “someembodiments,” “various embodiments,” “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,”etc.) means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of these phrases invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodimentsmutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features aredescribed which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not for other embodiments.

As used herein, being above a threshold means that a value for an itemunder comparison is above a specified other value, that an item undercomparison is among a certain specified number of items with the largestvalue, or that an item under comparison has a value within a specifiedtop percentage value. As used herein, being below a threshold means thata value for an item under comparison is below a specified other value,that an item under comparison is among a certain specified number ofitems with the smallest value, or that an item under comparison has avalue within a specified bottom percentage value. As used herein, beingwithin a threshold means that a value for an item under comparison isbetween two specified other values, that an item under comparison isamong a middle specified number of items, or that an item undercomparison has a value within a middle specified percentage range.Relative terms, such as high or unimportant, when not otherwise defined,can be understood as assigning a value and determining how that valuecompares to an established threshold. For example, the phrase “selectinga fast connection” can be understood to mean selecting a connection thathas a value assigned corresponding to its connection speed that is abovea threshold.

As used herein, the word “or” refers to any possible permutation of aset of items. For example, the phrase “A, B, or C” refers to at leastone of A, B, C, or any combination thereof, such as any of: A; B; C; Aand B; A and C; B and C; A, B, and C; or multiple of any item such as Aand A; B, B, and C; A, A, B, C, and C; etc.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Specific embodiments and embodiments have been described herein forpurposes of illustration, but various modifications can be made withoutdeviating from the scope of the embodiments and embodiments. Thespecific features and acts described above are disclosed as exampleforms of implementing the claims that follow. Accordingly, theembodiments and embodiments are not limited except as by the appendedclaims.

Any patents, patent applications, and other references noted above areincorporated herein by reference. Aspects can be modified, if necessary,to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various referencesdescribed above to provide yet further embodiments. If statements orsubject matter in a document incorporated by reference conflicts withstatements or subject matter of this application, then this applicationshall control.

The components and steps illustrated in the Figures may be altered in avariety of ways. For example, the order of the logic may be rearranged,substeps may be performed in parallel, illustrated logic may be omitted,other logic may be included, etc. In some embodiments, one or more ofthe components described above can execute one or more of the describedprocesses.

1. A central processing center for automating dock station servicing,the central processing center comprising: a transceiver configured toreceive status data associated with one or more dock station components;one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the central processingcenter to perform operations including— determining whether the statusdata satisfies one or more service conditions, wherein determiningwhether the status data satisfies a service condition of the one or moreservice conditions includes applying a trained model to at least some ofthe status data, and wherein applying the trained model provides adetermination for whether the service condition is satisfied; and whenthe status data satisfies at least one of the service conditions,causing one or more service actions to be performed.
 2. The centralprocessing center of claim 1 wherein the status data includes, for atleast one of the dock station components, one or more of: a total numberof uses; a number of uses since a service; a total amount of time inuse; an amount of time in use since the service; an identification of anequipment fault; or any combination thereof.
 3. The central processingcenter of claim 1 wherein at least some of the status data is generatedby a control panel in response to the control panel controlling one ormore of the dock station components.
 4. The central processing center ofclaim 1 wherein at least some of the status data is generated based ondata gathered by a camera or sensor operably associated with at leastone of the dock station components.
 5. The central processing center ofclaim 1 wherein the operations further comprise processing one or moreimages included in the status data to automatically identify at least aportion of one of the dock station components or a status of the portionof the one of the dock station components.
 6. The central processingcenter of claim 1: wherein at least a portion of the status datatraverses part of a Zigbee, Z-wave, Bluetooth, or Thread network; andwherein the network includes multiple dock station component nodes. 7.The central processing center of claim 1: wherein determining whetherthe status data satisfies the one or more service conditions includesdetermining that an amount of uses of dock station components, specifiedin the status data, is at least as large as a maintenance threshold, andwherein the one or more service actions include initiating a maintenancerequest.
 8. The central processing center of claim 1 wherein the trainedmodel was trained by applying training items, each training itemincluding status data labeled with a satisfied or not-satisfiedcategorization, by: for each particular training item, adjusting one ormore aspects of the trained model based on a comparison of (A) outputgenerated by the trained model for the status data of the particulartraining item to (B) the satisfied or not-satisfied categorization ofthe particular training item.
 9. The central processing center of claim1 wherein the one or more service actions include one or more of:initiating a maintenance request; initiating a part request; causing anotification to be provided via an application on a mobile device remotefrom the central processing center; or any combination thereof.
 10. Thecentral processing center of claim 9 wherein the one or more serviceactions include the notification and wherein the notification includes acontrol to initiate a further action via the mobile device, wherein thefurther action includes enabling or disabling use of a control panel orat least one of the dock station components.
 11. A method for automatingdock station servicing, the method comprising: obtaining status dataassociated with one or more dock station components; comparing thestatus data to one or more service conditions to determine whether atleast one of the service conditions is satisfied by applying a trainedmodel to at least some of the status data; and based on the comparison,causing one or more service actions to be performed.
 12. The method ofclaim 11 wherein the status data includes, for at least one dock stationcomponent, one or more of: a total number of uses; a number of usessince a last service; a total amount of time in use; an amount of timein use since the last service; or any combination thereof.
 13. Themethod of claim 11 wherein at least some of the status data is generatedbased on data gathered by a camera or sensor integrated into at leastone of the one or more dock station components.
 14. The method of claim11 wherein the one or more service actions comprise causing anotification to be provided via an application on a mobile device. 15.The method of claim 11 wherein comparing the status data to one or moreservice conditions includes determining that an amount of uses of dockstation components, specified in the status data, is at least as largeas a service threshold.
 16. (canceled)
 17. The method of claim 11wherein the one or more service actions include one or more of:initiating a maintenance request, initiating a part request, disablinguse of a control panel or at least one of the one or more dock stationcomponents, or any combination thereof.
 18. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a computing system, cause the computing system to performoperations for automating servicing of a dock station, the operationscomprising: identifying that a dock station cycle completed; accessing acomponent counter; accessing a maintenance threshold; applying anadjustment factor to adjust the maintenance threshold; incrementing thecomponent counter; comparing the incremented component counter to theadjusted maintenance threshold; and based on the comparing, initiating amaintenance request for the dock station.
 19. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 18 wherein, prior to applying the adjustmentfactor, the maintenance threshold is a pre-established amount of use fora component of the dock station before the component requiresmaintenance.
 20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18wherein initiating the maintenance request includes: identifying one ormore other dock stations that have been flagged for having maintenanceperformed; and causing maintenance to be scheduled for the dock stationand each of the one or more other dock stations.
 21. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein the componentcounter tracks an amount of time a component of the dock station was inuse; and wherein an amount the component counter is incremented is basedon an amount of time the component of the dock station was in use duringthe dock station cycle.
 22. The method of claim 11 wherein the trainedmodel was trained by applying training items, each training itemincluding status data labeled with a satisfied or not-satisfiedcategorization, by: for each particular training item, adjusting one ormore aspects of the trained model based on a comparison of (A) outputgenerated by the trained model for the status data of the particulartraining item to (B) the satisfied or not-satisfied categorization ofthe particular training item.